This invention relates to a device and method for carriage drive control in an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium by moving a carriage which mounts a recording head thereon in a main scanning direction. The device and method for carriage drive control is used in moving the carriage in the main scanning direction.
Conventionally, a known image forming apparatus moves a recording sheet in a sub-scanning direction while a carriage which mounts a recording head thereon is moved in a main scanning direction, so that an image is formed on the recording sheet.
In this type of the image forming apparatus, it is necessary to move the recording head (and the carriage) at a constant speed when the recording head is operated to form an image on the recording sheet. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, the conventional carriage drive control device accelerates the carriage, per scanning of the carriage, from a stop position (driving start position) so that the moving speed of the carriage goes up to a constant target speed Vt at a recording start position Xs where the recording operation by the recording head is started. When the carriage reaches the recording start position Xs, the carriage is moved at the constant target speed Vt till a recording termination position Xe where the recoding operation by the recording head is ended. When the carriage reaches the recording termination position Xe, the carriage is decelerated, and stopped at a stop position (target stop position) Xt from which the carriage can be accelerated to the constant target speed before reaching the recording start position at the next scanning.